


Under Strange Circumstance (DISCONTINUED)

by Red_Robin_Dies



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: 5.0.5 is flugs service dog, Alternate Universe - Prison, Black Hat is transferred in from maximum security, F/F, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Oop, References to Addiction, References to Drugs, Service Dogs, They gang is in Federal Prison, but they don't know eachother, shenanigans ensue, this is my first fic, will update as fic goes on, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-04 02:56:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20463881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Robin_Dies/pseuds/Red_Robin_Dies
Summary: Black Hat, or , Prisoner #776 has been transferred from maximum security, down to a Federal prison for "good behaviour". He scopes out the scene in the new General population, with only a small handful of people who he knew there before. A certain pair of convicts catch his eye. Maybe he'll actually get out of here.





	1. A van ride into hell

He sat at his usual chair, in his usual room, in his usual Prison. He looked at the usual scratched in signatures, drawings and marks on the wall above his small desk. He practically knew the wall by grid at this point, having nothing better to do than memorize the chicken scratch of the people in this cell before him. 

He took a bite of the beef that has been sitting on his spork for a while, immune to the dry, bland and stale meat of this place. He wonders briefly if sand would be less dry than the garbage in here. It was all either dripping with grease or absorbing water from the air.

There was a distant metal scraping sound._ oh, the door.._ he was curious what was going on, as the guards didn’t leave their break room unless they were giving out food or taking the prisoners out to the yard. There hadn’t been any screaming either, so nobody was getting written up. __

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He listened to the pitter-patter of Co. Leon Provinsky going up the metal stairs. He knew it was Provinsky because of his asymmetrical stride length._ What is that dolt doing up here? If he tries to make small talk again I’m going to drag his arm through the porthole and break it._ His mind raced, his hatred for the guard making him grind the remains of the beef through his teeth.__

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He listened to him get a few cells closer to him, holding the spork like a weapon. Until, another pair of footsteps came up the stairs, and another. 

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_what?___

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He couldn’t tell exactly who was there, with the mixing of noises. Provinsky had stopped walking, and he heard two pairs of heavy set footsteps, mixed with what sounded like something heavy going at the same pace as each pair. _Boots aren’t allowed. Neither is heavy clothing._

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He listened to the trio come right up to his cell door. A jingling noise cut through the silence, as the porthole was unlocked. He wanted so desperately to look out from it. But, no. He’d look like a child. so he waited.

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“Inmate #776, put your hand out the porthole so we can secure you.” A voice said. It sounded muffled a bit, like the person speaking was wearing a helmet. God-fucking Dammit I want to know. He placed his hands out of the porthole, feeling the familiar cold metal of the handcuffs clamp around his wrists.When they finished, he pulled back into his cell, and took a step away from the door.

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“Step away from the door, Inmate.”

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_One step ahead of you.___

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The door was unlocked, and it opened inwards to reveal the trio outside his cell. It was guard Provinsky and two others in what looked like heavy-duty riot gear. Each one held a Gun, and another pistol in a holster at the hip, he noticed.

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“What is happening?” He asked, hoping these idiots wouldn’t just ignore him and continue with whatever the fuck was going on. 

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“Uh, we’re moving you to another, uh, another facility.” Co. Provinsky replied, trying to keep eye contact but failing miserably. 

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Black Hat narrowed his eyes at him. “Why?”

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He looked at the other two men behind him, to which they both stared blankly back. “Because you’ve been on, um... good behaviour, recently. Well, no, not recently- the uh- the last few years. so-”

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He cut him off, “Am I going into Federal prison, yes or no.”

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“yeah, you- uh, yeah you are.”

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_Fuck yes.___

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He packed his things (like one small box of things) and was given ankle cuffs before escorted outside to the Van. It was sleek black with black-out windows, and he was ready to go. Inside, he sat opposite to one of the heavy-duty guards, while Co. Provinsky drove, and the other guard sat shotgun.

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While looking out he window, he saw his old prison, the one he went to before Maximum._ Ah, Carmendale. Old crimes and old times._ He reminisced for a while until he realised the van had gotten a lot closer to it. So much so, that he could see the Inmates in the yard. He tried squinting, to see if anyone from when he was there still remained. He didn’t recognise anyone.__

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He was in the middle of scrutinizing the outfits of the Inmates before the van made a sudden turn, and he realised, the van was heading to the back entrance of Carmendale.

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_Oh, shit.___

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	2. Scoping out the scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Hat doesn't quite get Deja-vu from his old prison. Almost nothing is the same, and all the people are new.

The van stopped. Co. Provinsky turned the van off and got out. The guard in the passenger side followed suit and exited the van. They came around to the back door of the van and opened it, staring expectantly at Black Hat. He looked at the clock on the radio before he felt the guard behind him push, so he stepped out and onto the familiar gravel outside the Prison. He listened to the van door slam shut behind him and stared at the shackles between his ankles. He noted that the time was 4:20. Nice.

"Get moving, Inmate." A guard grumbled, invading his personal space. 

He huffed and started walking towards the doors. looking through the windows, he watched a few guards rush past and scatter into different rooms. He smiled to himself, thinking about how much they looked like frantic mice.

One of the guards by his side sped up to get to the door faster than the rest, and opened it himself, holding it open for the rest of them. Black Hat rolled his eyes, _ fucking suck-up.___

_ _The party made it inside the prison, _finally_, and Black Hat looked around, noticing the different colour of the walls, the new lights built into the ceiling instead of hanging down. _ Hm, new people, new place.______ _

_ _ _ _ _ _Co. Provinsky talked to the guard at the desk, giving her (Co. Seabury, if he remembered correctly) his files and other paperwork. He placed his box of personal items on the desk, noticing how the guard next to him startled a bit when he did. _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ __Ha. made you flinch, cadelo.____ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The guard at the desk went through his things, as it was routine, but he still stared at her as if she was disrespecting his family. She looked up at him and paused for an awkward second before finally "packing" his things back into the box (really just dumping them in), before sliding the box across the desk to him. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He slowly moved to take it, as to not get man-handled for sudden movements by the guards. Once it was back in his hands, he ran his fingers gently over the contents of his box, much to the suspicion of the other people around him. He soaked in the alert and discomfort of the others before returning to a neutral stance again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The general prison welcome then commenced. The pat-down, the squat and cough, and the ceremonial bequeathing of the orange prison outfit. After he got dressed into the orange clothing, he grimaced at himself, knowing orange was not his colour. Alas, he had to bear it, so he stepped out of the "dressing" room, and into the main room where the guards were._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Co. Provinsky smiled and looked at Co. Seabury before turning back to Him and beginning;  
"This is Co. Seabury, she will be overseeing your integration into the prison." He seemed awfully glee for some strange reason. _I hate it.____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"I am already quite acquainted with Co. Seabury, thank you. She was here when I was in this facility before." He said, actively fighting the need to use snark in his tone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Co. Seabury snorted, "Yeah, I remember you too, Asshat." She used a nickname almost as ancient as his hatred for her. Her distasteful southern U.S.A drawl making it even worse to listen to._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He visibly scowled, feeling the nickname send poison through his veins. The guards startled, moving in front of Co. Provinsky and Co. Seabury. He took a deep breath through his nose and set his face back to a neutral expression._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He watched as Co. Provinsky undid his cuffs and ushered him into the cell. He looked around briefly as Co. Provinsky spoke.  
"Ok, so, uh- this is your new cell. The bottom bunk on the right is yours. you will be sharing it with two other people... So, uh... Be nice, Please?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He set his box of things on his bed before turning around. _Roomates?_ He hadn't thought about that, but he wasn't too irritated about it. _As long as they shut up and respect my stuff.______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Okay, so to refresh you on what Federal is like, you got free-roam through the day, but don't stay in anyone else's room for too long or you get written up. And yard time happens around 4-5:30 each day unless there is an event or you have a club to go to instead." Co. Seabury babbled on about other things he already knew, so he just filtered out her annoying voice and looked around the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _The two people in this room hadn't been sharing a bunk, he noticed. The bunk above his had posters next to it from gaudy punk bands, along with crude drawings of someone he didn't know. On the opposite bottom bunk, it was a lot neater. A plain blue shoebox under the bed, and a photo of someone he didn't know on the wall. One strange thing was that there was a dog bed peeking out from underneath that bed, too._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Should I be in the yard now? or am I staying here?" He asked, with no tone of questioning. He knew they wouldn't let him stay in the commons on his own, they weren't that stupid. Although, Co. Seabury could just supervise him. Or, they could just lock him in the cell. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"hm...Alright, we'll bring ya out to the yard, then. No tomfoolery, Asshat." Co. Seabury nodded to the guards and they went to his sides and lead him out to the yard._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Demencia sauntered through the yard, swerving between the people around her and tugging on any long hair she saw. One person turned around sharply and went to grab her, to which she swiftly moved out of the way and blew a raspberry at them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Fokken teef! I'll knock out your teeth!" Osmayua called after her, their teeth bared and fists balled. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Too bad. You snooze, you lose!" She called back before running towards the corner of the yard, bumping into and pushing a lot of people on her way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _She slowed down as she neared the corner, two familiar faces waiting for her. She panted as she waved, sticking her tongue out for fun._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Hola, Flug!" She called as she ran over and hit her semi-masked friend on the back playfully (but still quite roughly)._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He groaned, rubbing his shoulder. "buenas tardes, Demencia." _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _5.0.5 whined, rubbing his head against Flug's leg. Flug pat him on the head and turned to Demencia. "So, did you see any fresh meat?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Demencia put her hand to her chin and raised her head cartoonishly. She made an exaggerated expression and hemmed. "Nah, don't think so... but maybe they'll come in at night? y'know, like a surprise!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Flug rolled his eyes but didn't comment on that. "Also, if you keep pulling Osmayua's hair they're probably gonna shank you, just saying."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _She giggled, "It's funny when she's mad, plus she speaks Afrikaans and it sounds really cool." Demencia played with her hair, licking a piece of stale pudding caught in her mane._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He grimaced, but she could only see it in his eyes, the way they scrunched up. "Dios Mio...You're disgusting! Don't give your lice anything else to eat, damn."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Demencia was about to shover her hair in Flug's face before she heard the distinct screeching of the yard door and looked over, expecting a guard to walk in or something. Her eyes went wide when she saw something else._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Fresh Meat___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are much appreciated!
> 
> cadelo: bitch (Italian)  
Fokken teef: Fucking bitch (Afrikaans)  
Hola: hello (Spanish)  
Buenas tardes: good afternoon (Spanish)  
Dios Mio: My god (Spanish)


	3. Two peas in a cell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demencia and Flug investigate the mysterious new inmate from maximum security. Black Hat is curious about the two inmates and dog he keeps seeing just barely outside of his field of vision.

Demencia buzzed, watching the new inmate was escorted in by two heavy-duty guards, Co. Seabury and some twink weaving between the bunch of them. Was that a guard from Max? _ Ha! little dinky twinky over there, yelling at people and beating unruly inmates with a baton? Pfft, what an image! _ She chuckled to herself, spacing out as she imagined Skinny McPhee over there beating the shit out of some 6'7 ripped inmate.__

_ _She noticed the inmate walk into the yard, their blurry orange and black blob moving to go to the wall. She thought about how much it reminded her of when she used to unfocus her eyes at night in her hometown, to see the pretty oranges and reds of street lights and stop signs blur into the familiar warm mosaic of a red light district. Oh, now she felt nostalgic. She wondered how the people she used to know were doing. Which ones overdosed, who was turning tricks now and if anyone was clean and doing better. _ she wondered if Dominique got married...Kinda seemed like the dude just wanted her silicone barbie ass, but maybe... No, he probably strangled her.__ _

_ _ _ _She didn't keep track of time as she relived some of her best moments. When she snorted coke off a dick, or when her mom bought her a girdle so boys would like her more, or even when she stole a car with Blanca, It was fun. Until something wet and cold touched her hand. She squealed, pulling her hand away from the source and turning to face it. She looked down, seeing 5.0.5's worried eyes looking up at her. She stared at him, holding her hand to her chest._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Fluuuug, your weird dog's being weird..." She whined, looking at him and making a pouty face. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Demencia, he sees you dissociating so he's doing his job." He replied, rolling his eyes and giving 5.0.5 a scratch behind the ears._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"No! His job is doing that stuff for you, Dork! Not me, I don't want his mug in my business all the time." She argued, sticking her tongue out and furrowing her eyebrows in a comically stupid expression._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Flug rolled his eyes, scratching his nose just above his mask before skimming through the crowd to spot someone in an orange outfit. _ oh, maybe that's the person from max. _ He looked at Demencia, then the new guy and made a decision. He guessed it wouldn't be horrible if Demencia and he met the new guy. After all, he would probably get sent out of here in a body bag if demencia didn't like him.___ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _"Oye, why don't we go over and bully the new guy?" He suggested, sacrificing his chance of not being dragged around today for Demencia's enjoyment. _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _She gasped loudly, her eyes lighting up as she quickly looked at him and then spun around to look at the man in the orange jumpsuit so quickly he was surprised she didn't get whiplash. "Oh! Ooh! I forgot about that! yeah, yeah! Let's go see what they're like!" _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _She left no room for debate as she grabbed at the air near him (which he was immensely grateful she learned not to just grab him after what happened last time) and ran towards the other convict, weaving quickly between people and leaving Flug to just walk around the edges to get there. He would say his method is immensely more practical, but to Demencia, she could navigate a crowd like Moses to the red sea. Mostly because everyone knew they'd get pushed, shoved, scratched, stood on or bitten if they were in her way.  
He walked near the walls, avoiding the giant crowd in the middle playing _futbal_ and just being rowdy in general. He felt 5.0.5 rub against his leg lightly as the crowd got particularly loud, which he appreciated. He would cut out their tounges and serve them to his hijito, but he has yet to get a shiv_. _ _ _ _ _ ____

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He reached where Demencia was, her giant and luminous head of hair sticking out like a shark in a pond. He realised she wasn't talking to the new guy, surprisingly. He thought her mane was just blocking him from view, but no. After standing behind her for at least 10 seconds, he moved next to her and tried to pinpoint what she was looking at. Oh, duh. The new guy._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Look at him..." She rasped, and let out an audibly loud and shaky breath. Flug looked at the guy. _ He's wearing a hat? What! I'm not allowed to wear hats ¡Las pendejadas! __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Flug, look at him!!" She exclaimed bouncing up and down on her knees and holding her forearms by her chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"Yeah, he's wearing a hat. How come we can't do that?" He replied, putting his hands on his waist and tilting his hips._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"What? No! Well, yeah... But I mean differently! just really look at him." she said, ever the cryptically. She stared at him still, her body going still but still somehow vibrating with an emotion Flug didn't recognise. Oh, wait. Oh no. He Recognised it. Oh god. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__ "Ay Dios fucking Mio... Don't tell me you wanna bang this dude!" He whisper-yelled, hoping she didn't want to date a person she just saw. But, his hopes were extremely short-lived, as Demencia made heart eyes at someone who could be in prison for sexual assault. __

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"I'm going to go over and tell him you think he's hot." He said matter-of-factly and immediately started walking towards the man before Demencia could pummel him for suggesting it. He heard her sputter and struggle to catch up with him, still waist-deep in her hubris. 

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__ "WAITWAITWAITWait- No! Flug, c'mon! What did I ever do to you!?" She yelled, catching up to him and nearly trampling 5.0.5 in the process. She finally made in front of Flug and barricaded the way to the other inmate with her body. __

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_ He was already slightly reeling from her recklessly stepping over 5.0.5, but the fact that she was begging made him stop walking and look at her with pure impish intent. He thought about it for a second, before deciding he would milk this for all he could. After all, what was he but a criminal? _

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_ She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, my Gawd... thank you... I need to study him more before I can make him mi-" _

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_ Black Hat walked over to the nearest wall to him, leaning against it and looking around the yard. There were multiple gaggles of inmates scattered across the yard, the largest in the middle screaming and running. He figured they were probably playing a sport that involved running or a lot of movement, by how much space was in the middle of the crowd. He stopped trying to study the people in the crowd quickly, as they were all moving very quickly. Enough so, that he couldn't make out many faces. Some stuck out, but it was only because they had a power or were a species other than human. He noted that two people had horns, one had dark olive skin, and the other had a strange gey tint to their skin. That was about all he got from that group, though. _

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_ He moved his attention to other groups, making sure he took note of any possible cliques for future reference. A lot of people looked at him, to which he felt disgusted that their stupid little eyes were allowed to see his grande self. He sucked it up. He knew it was probably only because of the orange jumpsuit or his hat. He noted that people who didn't look like average humans tended to stuck together. But that was basically how society worked anyway, 'if you don't fit in here then go fit in somewhere else'. He lamented on that thought while observing the people around, keeping track of how groups split in into threes or twos and then joined back together. There were a few groups of two or three only, which was normally odd for prison. Usually, if you were in a small group you'd get picked on until you were in a larger one. Maybe they were just specifically strong or volatile people? Seemed right, but he wouldn't know for a while. _

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_ He saw someone with extremely long, neon hair. Was that allowed? It was a weakness if he'd ever seen one, so many things would get stuck in it and not to mention the leverage someone else could have against you! He mulled over all the things that would and could go wrong before he watched the living glowstick move over to one other person. And a dog? Wait, was that who he was sharing a room with? He'd seen the dog bed, so unless there was something sketchy going on, that was his roomie. He still couldn't see the neon hairball's face so, he decided to look at his roommate. _

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_ They had a mask covering the lower half of their face (nostrils and under), a pair of round goggles and a headscarf. The headscarf was a dark purple with golden highlights at where their hairline would be, and more on the stars scattered over the fabric. Very complementary to their tan skin, he must say. Whoever they were, they were good in his books so far. Hopefully, they weren't a nightmare to room with. If the other roommate was not pleasant, at least the two of them could stave it out rather easily. Speaking of which, he had no way of telling who the other roommate was. Well, he'd find out sometime later. _

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_ He noted that the dog his roommate had (probably a service dog) was a large Samoyed dog. Large, white, fluffy and hypoallergenic. Definitely a service dog. He wondered why his roommate needed a service dog but quickly brushed it off for another time. The one with neon hair turned around and started running towards him. He didn't keep eye contact while they were running, only keeping them in sight but not looking directly. He examined their face as best he could remember it clearly, and the slightly blurry rendition from the corner of his eye. They had hot pink bangs (disgusting), a very dirty version of the normal beige prison outfit with the sleeves ripped off, her pants cut into an above-knee pair of shorts and black and red tights. Wait, what was the singular of tights? Tight? Whatever, but one of the legs of the pair was ripped off and currently being used as a sleeve. How disgusting. However, they turned to go diagonally instead of straight to the wall where he was, and so (thankfully) was out of sight. _

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_ He looked around the courtyard, eventually getting a basic understanding of the general population of this place acted. Though, he couldn't say the same for people in solitary cages spread around the walls of the yard. They were big enough for a bit of movement and had one chair each, but that was it. He guessed those people were in solitary confinement for something. At least now he knew he'd still go out to the courtyard if he snapped. _

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___ Some guards he didn't know came in through the doors and rung a bell, yelling that all inmates were now to return inside and wait an hour for dinnertime. While walking in, he noticed the person with neon hair in his general vicinity a lot. He balled his fists by his side, prepared to throw a punch if necessary.___

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the strange Italics! :( idk how it's happening but it is and I don't know how to fix it.  
also sorry to my American readers, I don't know any other words for tights. I know in other places they call them leggings but that's it. look leggings up and you'll get it.
> 
> Translations:  
Hijito: (Spanish) Baby boy. kinda like a young son.  
ay Dios (fucking) Mio: (Spanish) oh my (fucking) god.  
futbol: (Spanish) football.


	4. Strange Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Hat finally meets who he will be sharing a cell with. Demetra attempts to woo him, and general panic ensues.

Black Hat walked back to his cell, as it would be an hour until all inmates had to be in the general area to eat dinner. The layout of the halls hadn't changed too much in the time he'd been absent, maybe a few colour changes or room additions or re-purposed rooms. But otherwise, he knew this place like the back of his hand. Speaking of which, he'd been pulled aside by some mangy guard he didn't know and told he needed to wear a pair of gloves. He initially refused but was told he didn't have a choice in the matter. 

The gloves had some kind of handcuffs integrated into them, as they were locked onto his wrists and tightened so he could not pull them off. His hands weren't tethered together, but the gloves couldn't be removed without a key from the guards, so they might have well been.

They were ugly and thick gardening Esque style gloves. Thick, rounded and soft on the outside. He hated this. They were itchy, ugly mud brown and not even practical. How would he do anything with these?! He knew it was so he didn't claw anyone's eyes out but this form didn't even have pointed fingers or nails! Even if he did try to maim someone, his nails would surely break. Ugh, the things he did for his future.

Ah, the future. What a pretty concept. He could imagine anything he wanted and say that would be him in 10 years. But that was stupid and for cowards who couldn't make what they wanted to happen come true. unlike him, he knew when the burnout of his last fight passed, he'd blow this pity party to smithereens. He wasn't sure how long this blowout period would last, though. He'd only sent 1000 people warping between realities at the speed of light around 4 years ago. Oh well, that does take around 17 Gamma-Ray Bursts of energy to do. He was nearing the old stage of his species' life span, he was already nearly a Googleplex old! How time flies.

He flexed his hand in the glove, trying to see how much he could shift it into something else before it hurt. He didn't feel the distinct prickling feeling of shapeshifting when he did it, though. Was he that burnt out? He hadn't even tried to use his powers in the last three years! Stupid body.

He sat on his bed in his cell. It wasn't really his, though, considering he shared it with two (does the dog count?) people. He inspected the room once again, noticing a bag on his bed. Oh, right, the 'prison starter kit'. A pillow, white t-shirt, Towel, socks, toothpaste and toothbrush. He put all his things minus the pillow into his box, took out a book and then putting it under his pillow at the head of the bed.

He sat on the bed, trying to get comfortable by crossing his legs, but the mattress was prison-grade. So he wasn't comfortable. He picked the book up and began reading. He passed the time like that for a while, checking every now and then to see if anyone had come in. Nobody did, whatever. He would have to see them eventually. He already knew who one was, so he would just approach them if he needed to.

Eventually, he heard a guard yell that it was mealtime. He hated how it sounded like they were children. He stayed in his room for another minute, wanting to finish the page he was on. He was nearly done when someone appeared in the doorway of the cell. He turned to look at them.

It was his roommate. The person is the mask, goggles and headscarf. Holding a tray of food. A guard next to them, holding a lunch tray with a metal cover, covering the contents. He closed the book, knowing it would make him look like he was listening.

"Inmate, why aren't you downstairs at a table?" The guard, Co. Boyle since he read the nametag, said haughtily. 

"I was going to go down and get food and bring it up here." He said, keeping his tone level and making sure to not make any possibly antagonizing expressions.

She huffed, walking over and handing him the tray she had in her hand. "Go down, sit at a table and eat. You can come back up when Flugslys is done."

Flugslys? was that his roommate's name? How strange. He reasoned that it was most likely their last name. It didn't seem like this guard was one to give nicknames. "Why must I wait for when he is finished?" He asked, slightly irritated but holding it in.

"Why do you think his mouth is covered? Nobody is allowed to be in the same room as him when he's unmasked. Get lost." Co. Boyle said, her British accent slightly less grating to listen to her.

He Picked his book up and walked out of the cell. He walked down to an empty table and sat there. He re-opened his book and began eating as he read. He ran some things over in his head when he did so. His roommate wasn't allowed to be in the same room as anyone while unmasked? So he either was rabid, feral or had some kind of power to do with his mouth. Or maybe his innards in general? His eyes, nostrils and mouth were covered. But his hair was covered too... Ugh, semantics.

That was until someone sat on the chair opposite him and began looking at him. He wanted to move away and ignore them but every other table was packed full with hungry fools. He internally screamed, wanting to wring the offender's neck like a turkey. He couldn't though. He wasn't going back to being in a small room nearly the whole day. No, he couldn't handle that. Not with every other good thing he had in these miserable days stripped away from him. He'd read this book 134 times. He could remember every word. He wanted to tear it up and shove the pieces down to his esophagus. He hated the constant repetitive drawl he went through just because he sent 1000 heroes skipping through the fabric of time. Disgusting consistency, he wanted to unscrew someone's head from their spine.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hiya, I'm Dem! You new? Well, yeah obviously... But, uh, heya hot stuff!" She said cheerfully. _ What the fuck why did I say that?! That was ultra stupid !!! Oh fuck, oh shit I did not think this through as well as I thought I did! ___

_ _She held a smile while he stared at her, knowing she fucked up monumentally. The other inmate stared at her for a while, before opening his mouth to say something and then closing it. He did it again, still staring at Demencia._ _

_ _"...Hello." He said, looking visibly confused. He pushed the food around his plate and ate some peas._ _

_ _Demencia internally fist-bumped herself. She counted this as a win. He said something to her, so she was okay to be weird as hell now. _You can't go back now! You're stuck with me, Hat-man!____ _

_ _ _ _"What's your name?? I told you mine so..." She said, sounding mature as ever._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He didn't seem very impressed with her logic, but he didn't walk away. "Black Hat, if you must know." He said, seeming more focused on his book._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _She nearly jumped out of her seat with ecstasy. "Oooh!! That's a cool name! Nicknames, huh? Can I call you Blackie? I'm gonna-"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _She was cut off. "Why are you talking to me? Do you not have better things to do? Like, eat to sustain your human life?" He spat, suddenly shifting from mild irritation to visible aggression._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _She didn't falter at all. "Nope! I don't need to eat right now. I get fed on Wednesdays!" She explained, leaning forward towards Black Hat's face._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He did a double-take, making sure he heard what she said. "You-" he stopped himself, rethinking how to phrase it, "You get fed... On Wednesdays? Isn't that... contradictory to the concept of mealtime?" He asked, tilting his head._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Well, duh. I'm not really first-blood human. Don't need to eat everyda-"_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _There was a thundering shriek that echoed through the building. Demencia yelped and covered her ears and Black Hat grimaced at the pain. A large number of people sitting in the cafeteria stood up or got on tables, looking towards the source. It was still echoing, the building practically ringing from the absence of the noise._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _A door was slammed open, Co. Boyle running out quickly and pulling her baton off her belt and extending it. She was panting, her hair ruffled and hands shaking. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Inmate! Do not move or I will have to administer punishment!" Co. Boyle shouted at the figure in the cell. She looked angry, but like she was just barely holding it in. Black hat noticed that she had something else buried under the other heavy emotions. Whatever it was, it was positive._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _A low and raspy noise came out of the cell, which the people down below in the general area couldn't hear. Some people started whispering, but most stayed quiet and watched the scene._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Someone with dark and long magenta hair in a braid stood up, noticed by Black Hat because of the sudden and choppy way they moved. Their arms were a dark olive colour, he noticed. It might've been the same person he saw in the yard._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _They moved suddenly and with an aura of concentrated focus. He could sense them repeating what they were going to do over in their head. They stormed up the stairs quietly and walked up to where Co. Boyle was. Co. Boyle looked at them, eyebrows furrowing. She said something he didn't hear. They went back and forth a little, he only heard some things._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"....attempted.....me...I administered...." Co. Boyle. He tried to piece together what she said but they kept talking._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Is that why he screamed?" The person with dark magenta hair said. He was glad they were loud._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"...O, He freaked.....he...eat and tried.....me!" Co. Boyle said. He cursed her British accent. Quiet and strange vowel pronunciations._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I do not think you are telling the truth," Magenta hair said, her voice stern. "He does not do things like that without outside influence."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"I SAID DON'T MOVE, INMATE!" Co. Boyle screeched, doing something with the hand that wasn't holding the bat._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Another pained shriek echoes through the building, making people cover their ears and others retreat under tables or into their cells. Some guards rushed in through the hallway door, frantically ordering inmates to get down and go back to their cells. They closed cells behind people, the cells automatically locking themselves._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He was ushered near an unused cell, sharing a look with Demencia before they both ran to an empty cell. A guard closed the door behind them and told them to wait there. A blaring siren echoed through the halls. Metallic clanking sounds (probably doors locking) surrounded the area. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He looked out the rectangular window in the middle of the cell door, watching a few guards write things down and others start yelling into walkie talkies._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"LOCKDOWN! We are in full lockdown!"_ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the idea of 'first-blood' will be explored in the future. Also if you can't tell, I am fond of cliffhangers


	5. alarm bells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black hat is forced to tolerate Demencia, and we see where Flug went.

The guards were running, shouting and looking generally frantic. A few of them were calm, but others were clearly frantic. They were all focused on doing one thing, though. What was it? Hell if he knew. He’d been staring out the window and watching them for a while, as it kept him occupied. Demencia had been beside him the whole time, commenting on things every now and then. It was fairly enjoyable until some of the guards said someone (he didn’t remember the name) needed to be transferred to medical for treatment. Then she started acting strange and worried? He wasn’t sure what it was or if it had a name, but she seemed mostly confused, mixed with anger and worry. 

He listened to her pace around the room for the umpteenth time before realising he should probably ask what was wrong, as that was what people did to worried friends. Yes, they consoled them…

_ uuuuuuggghhh… I don’t wanna be her support system! I’m here because I didn’t slit anyone’s throat for a while, not because I applied to be a good person! _

He tried so hard not to get involved, but eventually, he got sick of the smell she made from being worried. No, not because he was curious!  _ She smells like fish and garlic! Neither smell cooked! _ Imagine being in a room with someone who smells like fish and garlic! Because he sure could!

“Oh my fucking god! Why are you perspiring? Stop!” He demanded, standing directly in Demencia’s path so she would have to answer… or just walk around him. 

She stopped staring at her feet and looked at him. She furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, before softening her facial expression and sighing. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

_ Oh, thank god _ “I don’t care whether you do or don’t. We’re stuck in this cell that isn’t ours, someone probably got tased and I want to finish my lunch. It’s not ideal for anyone.” He said, watching her fidget with her hands and listen to him.  _ Huh, didn’t know it did that. _

A heavy silence hung in the air. Neither spoke for a while, which irritated Black Hat. He wasn’t going to stand in silence while this meat bag moped and whined all day. He was about to turn around and continue watching the guards hover around the cells before Demencia spoke. 

“...Wanna steal stuff from whoever sleeps here?” She asked, tilting her head and offering a smile.

_ Offering accepted.  _ “You have an astute mindset for this place.” He complimented, walking over to the resident of this cell’s bed and lifting the pillow, watching a few items of jewellery fall out from the casing.

She scuttled over and picked up a necklace, holding it up to the light of the cell so it glimmered. “Thanks, I don’t try.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________

He held his hands over his ears, pressing against them to try and muffle the sound of the blaring sirens reverberating through the building. He wanted to pet 5.0.5, but then he couldn’t block out the noises. There were too many and eventually too little. They all merged into one horrible symphony. He rested his head on his knees, trying to stay low and small. As if that would make things better. He felt a weight on his back, which he welcomed by laying down on his side. He ran the fingers he wasn’t using over his headscarf, feeling the lovely smoothness of the fabric. He wanted to pet 5.0.5. He felt the warmth of 5.0.5’s body on him, as well as the pressure. He felt something wet and cold on his wrist, it stayed for a second before leaving.  _ Oh, his nose.  _ He really wanted to pet 5.0.5.

After all the people trying to drag him up left after 5.0.5 resorted to a warning bark, he eventually opened his eyes. He didn’t need to squint at the light, as his goggles made everything gloomily dim. The sirens were less intrusive now, he’d adjusted to the noise. He loosed the pressure of his palms on his ears, testing to see how bad it would be. It wasn’t perfect. He supposed it would be the best he’d get in here, and kept putting pressure on and off his ears so he could adjust.

5.0.5 pressed his nose against his wrist, and he removed that hand off his head completely to pet him. The sirens were still loud and uninviting, but he kept petting 5.0.5. He ran his hand through the silky soft fur on his cheeks, neck and scratched him behind the ears for good measure. He removed the other hand and kept petting 5.0.5. Yes, this was okay. He moved onto his knees and kept petting 5.0.5. The dog gladly took the attention but also provided a sturdy support to lean on. Flug felt better.

He stayed there, petting 5.0.5. It was wonderful. The sirens weren’t so bad. He didn’t want to lay low and curl up. He pet 5.0.5 again before standing up, gliding his hand along his companion’s neck and head gently as he did so. He looked around, seeing a few guards standing outside the cells and hearing supervisor Katrine’s irritated voice.  _ Oh, she probably found out they were trying to force me to stop having a meltdown. Haha, yeah that’s bad for business.  _

He wondered where that bootlicker Co. Boyle was. He really wanted to rip out her tendons.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

After finally teaching Demencia how to play Egyptian Ratscrew after 3 valiant attempts, They played a game. And she was good. In fact, he might play with her some other time if he gets bored. But, you see, he was a criminal and she was inexperienced in Ratscrewwing. So he, in such a gentlemanly manner… Left out a number of tricks that would make her win easily and may or may not have made up a few things so he could win only for her to also use them. Once a cheater, always a cheater.

They had a surprisingly pleasant time, Demencia taught him stupid tricks and facts, he told her how stupid they were, great banter, etcetera, etcetera

He did find it particularly distressing that some stranger could be stealing his things right now. But he could easily reason that he knew what his things were, as they weren’t exactly common items. They also smelled like him, so he could probably find them rather easily. He wasn’t too ecstatic to already have to resort to becoming friends with other convicts, but Demencia wasn’t horrendous. For now, anyway. 

The sirens stopped a while ago, roughly 20 minutes if his internal clock wasn’t also fucked up. He could hear the inmates in the room next to him, which meant they were extremely loud, as the walls were not hollow and made of stone. God, the noises that some of the inmates made were of the likes of a zoo. He very dearly wanted to ask Demencia about who and what she knew about the people in this place, but he couldn’t risk losing such a potentially valuable source of information so soon. As soon as he could find out what she knew, she wouldn’t be necessary. He was insistent on the idea that he would definitely exhaust her to her last word of importance and then discard her like a tissue.

He looked behind him, to where Demencia was sitting on the bottom bunk. She had found a notepad in some of the belongings stashed in a shoebox under the bed. He assumed she was writing or drawing something, so he asked if he could see it, for obvious professional reasons.

She looked up, a red crayon in her mouth. Her face lit up, she held up the little book and spat out the crayon onto the pillow that wasn’t her’s.

“Yeah! Ok, soooo… I drew my roomie which is also my stupid nerd friend Flug, he’s like... stupid smart. He learned me that the earth is a big, floating circle. Weird, right?”

Black hat stared at her for a minute.  _ Oh my fucking god why are humans like this.  _ He tried so, so hard not to react. Keyword: tried. He ended up placing his hand on his forehead and dragging down the rest of his face, the stiff fabric of the gloves practically tearing open his pores.

“How the hell have you not been pummeled to death yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than normal, sorry!


	6. Cell opener

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dementia and Black hat are let out, and Flug says extremely important information casually.

Black Hat listened to her babble about her roommate/best friend for a while before actually looking at the drawing. He only really skimmed his eyes over it the first time he saw it but now anything was better than listening to her at this point. The drawing was done in colouring pencils pressed onto the paper immaculately hard to form an outline of what looked like the genie from Aladdin if he’d been dragged through the victorian era briskly and then dunked into the Edwardian times. It was revolting to look at. She’d drawn bug-esque cartoon eyes onto the figure and a chin so sharp it could cut paper. He tried picturing it as abstract art, but he didn’t even like abstract art, so this art wasn’t worth a millisecond of his time even if he just gave it 5 to study it.

He slowly stopped blocking out what Demencia was saying and let her disgusting noises be heard again. She was still talking about her ever-so-famous roommate, who was starting to seem like a celebrity at this point. She was mentioning about their ‘ultra-stinky stupid doo-doo-dog’ before he finally realised. That was the other roommate. The person in the drawing (although a slanderous representation) was his roommate. Which Demencia also mentioned quite like a broken record, was her roommate. So, based on all the facts he’d collected through the surprisingly exciting day…

Demencia was also his roommate.

He wanted to scream so loud he destroyed his vocal cords. He felt his hope of having average and quiet roommates shatter and immediately wished he’d choked on his peas and died. I was worried they’d be a druggie but this is so much worse. He felt himself go through the stages of grief like he was on a rollercoaster where he’d been separated from his friends due to the two-by-two seating system and put next to a dying old man throwing up on himself while wearing a fedora. It sucked all the fun out of being on the rollercoaster in the first place... Why was he thinking about rollercoasters??

Demencia must have realised he’d been spaced out, as she was waving a hand in front of his face and yelling. He kind of hoped he would have a stroke or die of the Spanish flu suddenly so he could leave the room.

“Hellooooo… Earth to Black Hat?? Have you found sentient life up there?? Or aliens with three boobs? Or-”

“Stop talking right now or I may have to put you down.” He cut her off, staring at her like one would stare at slowly dying roadkill. But only if you were Black hat, so it was an angry squint.

Demencia returned his disdain with a particularly stupid look. “Yeehaw!! We have landed back on momma Earth!” She exclaimed, wrapping an arm around his left shoulder and snaking onto where his right collarbone would be if he had a skeleton.

Black Hat recoiled at her sweaty flesh near his skin and grabbed her arm like a biologist would pick up a very fat and revolting snake’s body. He unlooped her arm from his torso, to which she let her arm go limp and be carried away from Black Hat’s body. It was then dropped unceremoniously as soon as it wouldn’t be able to fall on him.

She giggled and rubbed her wrist gently where he'd touched it. She then sniffed her wrist and sighed dreamily. He moved away from her and to look outside of the cell they were in.

"Do you think we'll get to finish dinner? I still kinda wanna eat people's vegetables and regurgitate it on their pillows." Demencia asked, focusing on a drawing in her book. She held the pencil disgracefully in her first, drawing like a toddler. Black Hat hoped there was not an afterlife, for if there was one, every artist in history would be crying at the sight of her archaic methods.

"We'd better. I do not want to stay in this room while you disgrace the dead with whatever you're drawing." He grumbled, turning back to look out and see what the guards were doing.

There were some inmates moving around now, their beige uniforms sticking out against the navy walls and grey metal. He hadn't noticed them when he was looking before. Maybe they were cooks? It would make sense in a rudimentary fashion, but the sirens would definitely reach the kitchen, so he discarded the idea. More and more inmates were appearing from the left, but there weren't any doors over there...

A guard appeared in front of the window, disturbing Black Hat's view and irritating him. The guard gave him a stern look before pulling something out of his pocket.

"Against the far wall, Inmates." The guard said, his voice raised a little louder than it needed to be. Black Hat quickly read his name tag before walking over beside Demencia. 

The guard unlocked the door, talking with someone beside him while doing it. Black Hat tapped his foot against the tile, and Demencia tapped back. They tapped back and forth before Black Hat stood on her toes and stifled a laugh at her yelp of pain. The guard opened the door and stepped inside, eyeing the two up and down.

"Palms." He ordered, nothing more needed to be said but somehow he still said more with his giant brown eyebrows. A very poor fashion statement if Black Hat had ever seen one.

The two opened their hands and held them out, palms to the ceiling. The guard seemed satisfied they had nothing on them and stepped out of the cell. 

"Return to what you were doing before." And with that, he moved onto the next cell.

_________________________________________________________________________________

After the guards had left, he flopped face-first onto his bed and groaned into his pillow. He hated when stupid shit like this caused such a stir. He didn't even swipe at her! Co. Boyle was a bootlicker, so he doubted she'd be fired anytime soon for tasing him like that. He hoped that she chokes on a sole in her sleep. Maybe that'll teach her a lesson.

He felt 5.0.5's weight shift the bed and smiled to himself, feeling his muzzle squeeze through under his forearm and press against his cheek. He lifted his head, not wanting to suffocate 5.0.5, and pressed it against his son's carpet-thick neck. 

He heard rapid footsteps rattle the metal floor outside his cell and run in. The trademark raspy painting and broken cackle made him chuckle into 5.0.5's for before turning to look at her.

"Hi, Dementia." He sung, ready to bully her if the reason she was out of breath was the reason he thought why she was out of breath.

"Flug- oh my gOD-" She inhaled noisily, laughing as he did so and holding her wrist. "Flug he held my hand!!" She yelled, wringing her right wrist with her other hand.

"Oh? So soon? Demencia, you haven't even married him yet!" He mused, stroking down 5.0.5's back like he was a cat from one of those villain movies.

"Oh shut up, tonto! At Least I held his hand first, Mr. I-fucked-my-superior!" She mocked, putting her hands on her hips and moving it side to side to the tune of the nickname.

"Oje! That was one time! I got a hella raise, so shut up, Pippi one-stocking!"

"Ha! That's rich! You a bootlicker, Fluggie! You licked his long-ass boots!"

"I did not lick his long-ass boots!"

"Oh but you licked his long-ass something else, huh?"

"I-" He broke, his sentence breaking into giggles. "You right, I did do that.." He chuckled, trying to wipe a tear from laughing out of his eye but realising his goggles were still on, so he couldn't.

Demencia sat on his bed, laughing about it too. She laid against the wall and he sat up to meet her at eye level.

"Why did you even do that? Didn't you tell me he was like, uber ugly?" She asked, drawing in 5.0.5's thigh fur.

"Ohh, Haha. It was so stupid. This one coworker got a raise and was like 'ha, I'm better than you.' So I immediately went to my bosses office and was like: 'Yo, I'll suck your dick if you give me a raise' and he agreed, so.."

She broke out into boisterous laughter, holding her stomach. "Ahaha! THAT was why?! I thought it was a forbidden love thing, but nevermind!" She hollered.

They both laughed about it for a while, telling stories they both remembered loosely to eachother. It was nice, and it distracted Flug from his thoughts. They both bullied eachother respectively on what happened in each story. A few punches were dished out before 5.0.5 nearly got hit so they stopped. Demencia talked about her time in the cell with Black Hat, and how romantic it was. She showed him all the things she'd stole, which had been in her bra for a bit too long. A few crayons she stole had become soft from the warmth and sweat of her skin. He didn't want to touch her ever again, but would probably have to. She showed him the drawings she did, which he judged based on how well he could see them with his stupid goggles on.

"Okay, okay! This one is you!" She turned the page, revealing a drawing of what looked like a chibi character dunked in radioactive and boiling oil. It looked mutant and like every second was excruciating pain, so he deemed it an accurate representation so far.

Demencia named what colours were where, and named the body parts he couldn't distinguish.

"What is that?" He pointed at something next to him in the drawing that looked like Frankenstein got his hands on dustbunny parts instead.

"Oh! That's bear!" She said, patting 5.0.5 firmly on the butt and rudely waking him up. Flug gave him an apologetic pat before laughing.

"You're the closest anyone has ever gotten so far." He mused, looking the drawing up and down now that he knew what everything was.

"Oh! Wait-" she exclaimed, pulling the neck of her shirt out and digging her hand through her bra. He averted his eyes, not for Demencia's sake, but so he didn't have to see what horrors were in there.

She pulled out a cardboard envelope looking thing and opened it, pulling out what looked like wet and way too sticky blu-tack. Demencia ripped the page with the drawing out, and put some on the four corners of the page before slapping it onto the wall next to his pillow. 

"There! Be grateful, that's one of the best pieces of art I've done so far. And now you get to look at it every night before you go to sleep! And even when you wake up!" She said cheerily, closing her stolen book and collecting the crayons and colouring pencils scattered around his bed. She shoved them into her bra, put the notebook in her mouth and climbed into the top bunk above like a monkey traversing the trees.

Flug sighed, settling back down next to 5.0.5 and petting him gently as he fell asleep. God, he would die for than animal. He listened to Demencia take a leap and land on the top bunk on the other side of the room. She make the bed creek and whine under her sudden weight. And the box on the bunk below fall to the floor.

Dementia peeked down to where the box had fallen from her top bunk, tilting her head. She was thinking intensely for a while, Flug watched her. 

"Oh yeah, also, that Black Hat guy you like is our roommate. I saw him at Dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who dont know, blu-tack is sticky adhesive stuff used for posters and stuff. It's like a soft clay.


	7. acquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of an introduction.

“You mean to tell me, that the dude I've been thirsting over to you for the past hour, is our fucking roommate?!” She exclaimed, waving her arms over her head incredulously.

Flug coughed, bored of this conversation but willing to pull through. “Sí, I’ve been waiting to tell you for like 30 minutes but you wouldn’t shut up. Guess that’s what you get. But, why are you complaining? I thought you wanted some maximum security chorizo, no?” He hung over the side of his bed, his headscarf brushing against the floor. 

Demencia made a multitude of choked noises, sounding like a Scatman briefly. “Wh- Well, yeah! Obviamente!! I’m just- Uuugh!” She didn’t continue the sentence, devolving into grunts, whines and groans. Demencia flailed around on her bed, acting like a dying fish.

5.0.5 yawned, prompting Flug to sit up and give him a hearty pat on the head. _ Te Amo, niño. I’m so sorry you have to listen to her all day. _He smiled under his mask as 5.0.5 leaned into his hand, giving a big smile for such a darling dog. 5.0.5 moved closer to his side, shuffling along the bedsheets and wrinkling them harshly. Flug thought it was worth it, though. 

“Do you have any advice? I know you’re good at getting dudes to like you.” Demencia said, her face still partially nestled into her hard prison pillow. 

“What? No. Who told you that? I suck at that.” He replied, drawing a flower into 5.0.5’s neck fur with his finger.

“At least you suck! It’s been foreeeveeerr since I’ve gotten any action..” She whined, kicking her legs back and forth.

“Well, I sure hope so! Men here are nasty! I was thinking of doing stuff with Ricardo in A block, but turns out he doesn’t wash his-”

“Okay! I get it! Just give me tips to romance Black Hat!” She interrupted, pulling her face out of the pillow.

“Wait..is his name Black Hat? Or is that just what we’re calling him until we know his name?”

“Nah, I called it a nickname and he didn’t correct me. It’s probably, y’know, ‘cuz of the hat.”

“Okay because if it was his real name that’s- That’s really dumb. I was hoping we just didn’t know his real name. Imagine if his legal name was Black Hat”

“Your name is dumb, too! ‘Mr. Plane crash’ what the hell went through your head?!”

“Your name is Demencia!”

“Touchy.”

“What? I literally just retorte-”

“No, like..uhh… what does that mean? Like when you roast someone but they roast you back? Touchy?”

He wracked his brain for answers, before remembering that Demencia is incredibly word-dumb. _ Oh my god, she means touc__hé. _He rubbed his temples as best he could with all the layers. 

“You mean_ touché, _Demencia. Not ‘touchy’.“

“Whatever. Tomato, Potato. Wanna go meet him? I already told him about you and I’ll get extra love points because you’re smart! This is gonna be soo great! He’ll love me in no-time!” She leapt off her bed and ran over to Flug, extending a clawed hand out to him. He groaned, well aware any remaining spoons he had would have to be used on this interaction. He shook 5.0.5 gently awake and scratched him behind the ear. 5.0.5 stretched and hopped off the bed, waiting for Flug. Flug hoisted himself up from his bed and took Demencia’s hand, with 5.0.5’s leash in the other.

Demencia ran out of the cell and down the stairs, almost dragging Flug along with her. She weaved between inmates like a needle through Gingham. Much to his dismay, she turned often and very sharply, leaving him to be swung recklesly as she twisted and turned around each figure. He hated this.

They passed through the crowd, and it felt like it was just getting thicker. Flug looked around, the dozens of figures casing them into the crowd, they all looked tall and threatening. Nobody liked Demencia’s crowd-weaving antics (including him) and he felt their spite and irritation bleed through him like a wet canvas.

Some people pushed back at Demencia, not a lot, but just enough to continuously disorient him as soon as he got his bearings back. It felt like everyone was staring. 5.0.5 was running behind him, as there wasn’t enough room beside him for the animal to fit.

This was bad. He could feel the panic rising from the pit of eels at the bottom of his stomach and lodging itself into his windpipe. Swallowing was hard, and breathing through his mouth was even harder. He pulled back on Demencia’s hand. She stopped running fairly quickly, but it was fast enough for someone still learning not to only care for herself. She turned around and walked closer to him. She had a tint of worry in her eyes.

“Fuck, sorry, dude. I forgot.. We can go out that way and just walk around. I’m stupid, sorry.” She pointed to an area in the crowd that was sparse, and an easy exit.

He smiled with his eyes at her and nodded. She started walking over to the human pigpen exit, and he followed. He felt 5.0.5 walk against his leg, as there was space now. He looked down at him and the animal whined, an indication for him to stop pushing himself to go through the crowd. _ Thanks, baby. _He pet 5.0.5 between his ears and relaxed his shoulders.

Demencia looked back at him every now and then, he probably would've appreciated it when she was running more than right now because now it just made him feel like a child. He disliked the feeling, but soon enough they were outside of the crowd. Immediately, he felt ten times better than when he was inside the human bacteria stomping grounds. He let out a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding in, and followed behind Demencia.

She looked back at him and smiled, stopping so Flug would be walking by her side before continuing. She was walking towards a particular table with the mysterious hat man in question on it. He looked like he was pretending to read a book, as Flug nearly caught his eye a few times. He’d noticed them coming over and, from Flug’s personal experience; was trying to ignore them, panicking about what to say, trying to look casual for when they walk over, or just distracted from his book by them.

Demencia waved energetically at him, her whole torso swaying with her arm. He finally acknowledged them and rolled his eyes at Demencia’s energy. He waved back with a flick of his wrist. Flug watched his demeanour, he seemed like he was a neutral, cold and calculative kind of person. Flug hoped he could see him panic at some point in the future so he could laugh at him.

Demencia hopped on a stool opposite him, looking back at Flug and patting the seat next to her. Flug disliked that 5.0.5 would now have to sit on the floor because the stools were unsafe for animals. He checked briefly that the seat wasn’t dirty and sat next to her, watching Black Hat close his book and rest it next to his lunch tray.

“Is lunch still happening? I thought it’s over for people who eat daily?” Demencia asked, pointing at the people around still eating.

Black Hat looked at Flug curiously, to which Flug deadpanned in return. It’s not like he could show any emotions well with all his ‘accessories’.

“We have another twenty minutes to finish eating because the lockdown interrupted mealtime. It barely makes up, but I don’t particularly care.”

Flug couldn’t think of any ways for him to enter the conversation without it being weird, so he adjusted his gloves instead. They were a little less grating to bear now.

Demencia looked at him and black hat, before groaning. “This is the dude I was telling you about. Flug! Say hello or meet my fist!” She demanded, hitting the table with balled fists lightly, as to not make the guards beat the shit out of her.

“Hello.” He said, smirking to himself under his mask. Demencia squinted at him aggressively, waiting for more words. He didn’t say anything else. Black hat looked amused by the interaction, hiding a small smile behind his hand.

  


“I hate you! Do a proper introduction, Nerd!” She whisper-yelled to him, kicking his shin under the table. He laughed.

“Hello, My name is Flug. I know your name already but Demencia demands we exchange names for her sake.” He said, trying not to show his shit-eating grin in his voice.

Black Hat smirked. He tipped his hat and introduced himself. “Greetings, My name is Black Hat. I’m glad to have your acquaintance.”

“Guyssss!! c’mon!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It begins!!! They have begun to mingle.

**Author's Note:**

> Will update this fic on weekends, also possibly throughout the week. Stay tuned!


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